The New England Grimpendium

An insider’s guide to wicked, weird, and wonderful New England. A rich compendium of macabre and historic New England happenings, this travelogue features firsthand accounts of almost 200 sites throughout New England. This region is full of the macabre, the grim, and the ghastly—and all of it is worth visiting, for the traveler who dares! Author J. W. Ocker supplements directions and site information with entertaining personal anecdotes. Topics include: Legends and personalities of the macabre Infamous crimes and killers Dreadful tragedies Horror movie locales Notable cemeteries and gravestones Intriguing memento mori Classic monsters

From the author of The New England Grimpendium comes a new travelogue and insider’s guide to wicked, weird, wonderful New York. When J. W. Ocker’s first book, The New England Grimpendium, emerged on the scene, Max Weinstein of Fangoria.com called it “a travelogue for those who revel in the glory of their nightmares.” Rick Broussard at New Hampshire Magazine said of it, “I’ve read a dozen books about New England ghosties and weirdnesses, and this one is my favorite. It’s also one of the few that actually came up with stuff I didn’t already know about.” Now the author of that Lowell Thomas Award winner has unearthed hundreds of similarly creepy and colorful places in the Empire State that will make your skin crawl and your hair stand on end! Ocker’s essays on these places, some little known, some area landmarks, include directions and site information along with entertaining anecdotes delivered in his signature wry style. It’s definitely a wild ride from a jar full of the harvested brains of dead killers to horror movie filming sites around the state; from a ships’ graveyard to lake monster sightings. If it’s in New York and it’s bizarrely noteworthy or wonderfully wacky, you’ll find it in The New York Grimpendium.

New England is so compact that even casual visitors can sample its diverse history in just a short time. But travelers and residents alike can also pass right by historic buildings, landscapes, and iconic objects without noticing them. New England's Hidden Past presents the region’s history in an engaging new way: through 58 lists of historic places and things usually hidden in plain sight in all six New England states. Pay attention and you’ll find stone structures built by Indians, soaring churches financed by Franco-American millworkers, and public high schools started by colonists when New England was still a howling wilderness. You may have seen them, but you probably don’t know the story behind them. New England's Hidden Past takes readers to the grave sites of revolutionary heroines, Loyalist house museums, as well as, Revolutionary taverns and colonial inns. It takes them to Indian trails, the oldest houses, historic department stores, ghost towns, and Little Italys. Each unique, interesting location or object has a counterpart in the other five New England states. A perfect guide to keep in the car and refer to when traveling New England or planning a trip.

New England boasts some of the strangest characters and stories that ever graced a region. From ghosts blessing a marriage to a clairvoyant who raised the dead, mysterious happenings abound. There is the simple grave of the mysterious and anonymous "XYZ" and the extravagant monument built for a pauper. One man may have actually found the elixir of immortality, while another woman left her whole fortune to a spirit she met via a Ouija board. Stories of the Melon Heads, the Leather Man and the Old Coot of Mount Greylock have fascinated New Englanders for years. Join Tom D'Agostino and Arlene Nicholson as they unveil the mysteries and oddities of this unique region.

Douglas has grown up around the business of death. Generations of his family have run the Mortimer Family Funeral Home. The mortician and gravediggers are all his buddies. And the display room of caskets is an awesome place for hide and seek. It’s business as usual in Douglas’s small New England town. Until one day an incredibly out of the ordinary murder victim is brought to the funeral home. And more startling: others follow. On the cusp of Halloween, a serial killer has arrived. And unsatisfied with the small-town investigation, Douglas enlists his friends to help him solve the mystery. With sumptuous descriptions of a bucolic town and it’s quirky people, fascinating yet middle grade–appropriate insider information about the funeral process, and a crackling mystery with a heart-pounding conclusion—Death and Douglas has something for readers young and old.

Winner of the 2015 Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical! Follow the footsteps of the father of American horror fiction. Edgar Allan Poe was an oddity: his life, literature, and legacy are all, well, odd. In Poe-Land, J. W. Ocker explores the physical aspects of Poe’s legacy across the East Coast and beyond, touring Poe’s homes, examining artifacts from his life—locks of his hair, pieces of his coffin, original manuscripts, his boyhood bed—and visiting the many memorials dedicated to him. Along the way, Ocker meets people from a range of backgrounds and professions—actors, museum managers, collectors, historians—who have dedicated some part of their lives to Poe and his legacy. Poe-Land is a unique travelogue of the afterlife of the poet who invented detective fiction, advanced the emerging genre of science fiction, and elevated the horror genre with a mastery over the macabre that is arguably still unrivaled today.

The Blackstone Valley is alive with the echoes of souls that roam the old mills, homes, social clubs and land they once inhabited. Visit a haunted monument in Cumberland, where nine colonists slain in King Philip's War may linger. Shop at an antique store in Chepachet that harbors more than just treasures from the past. Enjoy drinks with the other kind of spirits in historic establishments like the Granville Pub and the Tavern on Main. Take a hike through Precious Blood Cemetery, where ghosts may wander endlessly searching for their loved ones. Join authors Thomas D'Agostino and Arlene Nicholson on a tour of the most haunted places in the Blackstone Valley.

Based off one of the most popular web series on the internet, Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej present BuzzFeed Unsolved Supernatural, 101 of the scariest, spookiest, and creepiest locations around the USA and a few abroad, with 50 percent brand-new content and locales exclusive to the book. Hey there, demons! BuzzFeed Unsolved Supernatural has entertained viewers over the course of seven spooky seasons, covering the supernatural and otherworldly spirits, to ghosts, ghouls, unexplained paranormal activity, and everything in between. In their thrilling debut book, cohosts Shane Madej and Ryan Bergara (lovingly known as the “ghoul boys” to fans) deep-dive into dozens of haunted locations around the USA and a few abroad, including subjects from some of their most favorite and talked about episodes, as well as brand-new locations not previously seen before on their show. As they explore the history behind haunted houses, creepy graveyards, former insane asylums, abandoned buildings, and horrifying hotels, Shane and Ryan use their trademark wit and humor to dissect each terrifying tale with their most hilarious highlights and biting commentary. So hold on to your hell-bound soul, boys and ghouls—it’s about to get demonic up in here.